6 ms·

In a high stakes, challenging environment, every human weakness possible becomes a huge, career impeding liability. Very few people are truly all-around talente

In a high stakes, challenging environment, every human weakness possible becomes a huge, career impeding liability. Very few people are truly all-around talented. If you are a Stanford level scientist, it doesn't take a lot of anxiety to make it difficult to compete with other Stanford level scientists who don't have any anxiety. Without accommodations, you could still be a very successful scientist after going to a slightly less competitive university. Rising disability rates are not limited to the Ivy League. A close friend of mine is faculty at a medium sized university and specializes in disability accommodations. She is also deaf. Despite being very bright and articulate, she had a tough time in university, especially lecture-heavy undergrad. In my eyes, most of the students she deals with are "young and disorganized" rather than crippled. Their experience of university is wildly different from hers. Being diagnosed doesn't immediately mean you should be accommodated. The majority of student cases receive extra time on exams and/or attendance exemptions. But the sheer volume of these cases take away a lot of badly needed time and funding for students who are talented, but are also blind or wheelchair bound. Accommodating this can require many months of planning to arrange appropriate lab materials, electronic equipment, or textbooks. As the article mentions, a deeply distorted idea of normal is being advanced by the DSM (changing ADHD criteria) as well as social media (enjoying doodling, wearing headphones a lot, putting water on the toothbrush before toothpaste. These and many other everyday things are suggested signs of ADHD/autism/OCD/whatever). This is a huge problem of its own. Though it is closely related to over-prescribing education accommodations, it is still distinct. Unfortunately, psychological-education assessments are not particularly sensitive. They aren't good at catching pretenders and cannot distinguish between a 19 year old who genuinely cannot develop time management skills despite years of effort & support, and one who is still developing them fully. Especially after moving out and moving to a new area with new (sub)cultures. Occasionally, she sees documents saying "achievement is consistent with intelligence", a polite way of saying that a student isn't very smart, and poor grades are not related to any recognized learning disability. Really and truly, not everyone needs to get an undergrad degree.

jareds 10mo ago
Why are frequent attendance exemptions granted? I'm totally blind and when I went to college my lack of attendance had nothing to do with the fact that I was blind and everything to do with the fact that I made poor choices like other college students. If I didn't have the mobility skills to get to class then I shouldn't have been granted an exception, I should have been told to get better mobility skills before going to college. I think the only time I asked for an attendance exemption was during finals week. There was a blizzard at the same time as one of my finals and the sidewalks and streets were not plowed. This made it incredibly dangerous for me to go to take the test. I just emailed explaining the situation and took the test the next day.
- Phithagoras 10mo ago
  My understanding is that attendance exemptions are mostly to allow a student to regularly see healthcare professionals (ie weekly respiratory therapist visits) without suffering the wrath of a prof who feels that anyone missing more than 2 lectures deserves to auto-fail a course.
mmmlinux 10mo ago
Water before toothpaste = adhd now?
- TeMPOraL 10mo ago
  Isn't this how you're supposed to be doing it anyway?
  - Lammy 10mo ago
    ADHD is when high school chemistry class covers emulsifiers and you remember it
    - lazide 10mo ago
      But can’t remember if you ate today or not.
      - Terr_ 10mo ago
        It's 5PM and I haven't eaten yet, good reminder. /joking-but-factually-true
      - peterfirefly 10mo ago
        I have a really bad episodic memory and my sense of hunger stopped working normally in my teens. It's got nothing to do with anything else.
    - missingdays 10mo ago
      Why does remembering a topic covered in school mean having ADHD?
      - Lammy 10mo ago
        It doesn't. I was being sarcastic :)
    - GaryBluto 10mo ago
Aurornis 10mo ago
> Being diagnosed doesn't immediately mean you should be accommodated. This is the loophole. Universities aren't the ones diagnosing, they're the ones accommodating. The current meta-game is for parents and students to share notes about which doctors will diagnose easily. Between word of mouth and searches on Reddit, it's not that hard to find doctors in any metro area who will provide diagnoses and accommodation request letters to anyone who makes an appointment and asks nicely. There are now also online telehealth services that don't hide the fact that this is one of their services. You pay their (cash only, please) fee and they'll make sure you get your letter. The same thing is happening with "emotional support animal" letters. Once it becomes widely known that getting a diagnosis is the meta-game to getting housing priority, nicer rooms, extra time on tests, and other benefits the numbers climb rapidly. When the number is approaching 38%, the system has become broken. It's a real problem for the students who really need these accommodations. When 38% of the students qualify for "priority" housing, you're still in competition with 1/3 of the student body for those limited resources.
- koolba 10mo ago
  > There are now also online telehealth services that don't hide the fact that this is one of their services. You pay their (cash only, please) fee and they'll make sure you get your letter. The same thing is happening with "emotional support animal" letters. This used to be a thing with medical marijuana as well (maybe still is?). The answer is for schools to grab their share of this money by selling each of these accommodations directly, or perhaps via some kind of auction. Acceptance to such a school will be the “basic economy” of attendance. If you want to pick your seat, you can pay to upgrade.
  - Spooky23 10mo ago
    Or just operate so that everyone gets the academic benefits. My roommate in the 90s was ahead of the curve, he memorized the Cosmo quiz “do you have ADD” went to the student center, got a script that he sold or snorted, and got to take his test in a comfortable room at a time scheduled centrally. Just randomize assignments to rooms all over campus.
WalterBright 10mo ago
> putting water on the toothbrush before toothpaste Wat? I had no idea I had a disability!
- sfink 10mo ago
  Same here. My logic is that my toothbrush is in the same room as a device for aerosolizing fecal bacteria, which is kinda gross but also not that different from a lot of other surfaces and environments, and that it's going to collect some amount of stuff floating around. A quick rinse is going to dislodge a good fraction of what has accumulated over the course of a day. I thought I was just being logical, but apparently I also have a deficit of attention. Okay, then. I guess I'd rather bear that burden than brush my teeth with shi... sorry, I probably should terminate that sentence before I get carried away.
  - Terr_ 10mo ago
    > My logic is that I just assumed a bit of water in advance would prevent toothpaste from directly/easily adhering to the bristles, keeping more of it "in useful circulation" as it were. > kinda gross A few months back I needed some hydrogen peroxide, but the available bottle was more than I was likely to use before it degraded into H20... So, naturally, I started messing around looking for other applications. (It worked great on certain oily gunks that resist isopropyl.) One weird outcome from that is I've been putting a drop on the bristles of my toothbrush, although it's more of an idle experiment to see if the foaming action dislodges visible crud (i.e. toothpaste near the base) in-between uses, as opposed to a disinfection right before use.
    - LorenPechtel 10mo ago
      Hey, interesting idea using it against the shower gunk. Definitely going to try it. And, yes, definitely water first. It's sitting out there exposed, rinse it off!
      - WalterBright 10mo ago
SanjayMehta 10mo ago
[flagged]
- jagaerglad 10mo ago
  terrible take, it's ruined otherwise amazing potential countless times. Just see how over-represented ADHD is in the prison population
  - SanjayMehta 10mo ago
    I suggest you read the book "Selling Sickness" and revise your take.
- kelnos 10mo ago
  While I'm sure there are some (many?) people faking it for accommodations or drugs, I assure you that ADHD is real. I know several people with ADHD who have struggled to find the right combination of medication to even get to a state where they can lead functional lives, which is still not what us neurotypical folks would call "normal".

jareds 10mo ago

Why are frequent attendance exemptions granted? I'm totally blind and when I went to college my lack of attendance had nothing to do with the fact that I was blind and everything to do with the fact that I made poor choices like other college students. If I didn't have the mobility skills to get to class then I shouldn't have been granted an exception, I should have been told to get better mobility skills before going to college. I think the only time I asked for an attendance exemption was during finals week. There was a blizzard at the same time as one of my finals and the sidewalks and streets were not plowed. This made it incredibly dangerous for me to go to take the test. I just emailed explaining the situation and took the test the next day.

Phithagoras 10mo ago
My understanding is that attendance exemptions are mostly to allow a student to regularly see healthcare professionals (ie weekly respiratory therapist visits) without suffering the wrath of a prof who feels that anyone missing more than 2 lectures deserves to auto-fail a course.

mmmlinux 10mo ago

Water before toothpaste = adhd now?

TeMPOraL 10mo ago
Isn't this how you're supposed to be doing it anyway?
- Lammy 10mo ago
  ADHD is when high school chemistry class covers emulsifiers and you remember it
  - lazide 10mo ago
    But can’t remember if you ate today or not.
    - Terr_ 10mo ago
      It's 5PM and I haven't eaten yet, good reminder. /joking-but-factually-true
    - peterfirefly 10mo ago
      I have a really bad episodic memory and my sense of hunger stopped working normally in my teens. It's got nothing to do with anything else.
  - missingdays 10mo ago
    Why does remembering a topic covered in school mean having ADHD?
    - Lammy 10mo ago
      It doesn't. I was being sarcastic :)
  - GaryBluto 10mo ago

Aurornis 10mo ago

> Being diagnosed doesn't immediately mean you should be accommodated. This is the loophole. Universities aren't the ones diagnosing, they're the ones accommodating. The current meta-game is for parents and students to share notes about which doctors will diagnose easily. Between word of mouth and searches on Reddit, it's not that hard to find doctors in any metro area who will provide diagnoses and accommodation request letters to anyone who makes an appointment and asks nicely. There are now also online telehealth services that don't hide the fact that this is one of their services. You pay their (cash only, please) fee and they'll make sure you get your letter. The same thing is happening with "emotional support animal" letters. Once it becomes widely known that getting a diagnosis is the meta-game to getting housing priority, nicer rooms, extra time on tests, and other benefits the numbers climb rapidly. When the number is approaching 38%, the system has become broken. It's a real problem for the students who really need these accommodations. When 38% of the students qualify for "priority" housing, you're still in competition with 1/3 of the student body for those limited resources.

koolba 10mo ago
> There are now also online telehealth services that don't hide the fact that this is one of their services. You pay their (cash only, please) fee and they'll make sure you get your letter. The same thing is happening with "emotional support animal" letters. This used to be a thing with medical marijuana as well (maybe still is?). The answer is for schools to grab their share of this money by selling each of these accommodations directly, or perhaps via some kind of auction. Acceptance to such a school will be the “basic economy” of attendance. If you want to pick your seat, you can pay to upgrade.
- Spooky23 10mo ago
  Or just operate so that everyone gets the academic benefits. My roommate in the 90s was ahead of the curve, he memorized the Cosmo quiz “do you have ADD” went to the student center, got a script that he sold or snorted, and got to take his test in a comfortable room at a time scheduled centrally. Just randomize assignments to rooms all over campus.

WalterBright 10mo ago

> putting water on the toothbrush before toothpaste Wat? I had no idea I had a disability!

sfink 10mo ago
Same here. My logic is that my toothbrush is in the same room as a device for aerosolizing fecal bacteria, which is kinda gross but also not that different from a lot of other surfaces and environments, and that it's going to collect some amount of stuff floating around. A quick rinse is going to dislodge a good fraction of what has accumulated over the course of a day. I thought I was just being logical, but apparently I also have a deficit of attention. Okay, then. I guess I'd rather bear that burden than brush my teeth with shi... sorry, I probably should terminate that sentence before I get carried away.
- Terr_ 10mo ago
  > My logic is that I just assumed a bit of water in advance would prevent toothpaste from directly/easily adhering to the bristles, keeping more of it "in useful circulation" as it were. > kinda gross A few months back I needed some hydrogen peroxide, but the available bottle was more than I was likely to use before it degraded into H20... So, naturally, I started messing around looking for other applications. (It worked great on certain oily gunks that resist isopropyl.) One weird outcome from that is I've been putting a drop on the bristles of my toothbrush, although it's more of an idle experiment to see if the foaming action dislodges visible crud (i.e. toothpaste near the base) in-between uses, as opposed to a disinfection right before use.
  - LorenPechtel 10mo ago
    Hey, interesting idea using it against the shower gunk. Definitely going to try it. And, yes, definitely water first. It's sitting out there exposed, rinse it off!
    - WalterBright 10mo ago

SanjayMehta 10mo ago

[flagged]

jagaerglad 10mo ago
terrible take, it's ruined otherwise amazing potential countless times. Just see how over-represented ADHD is in the prison population
- SanjayMehta 10mo ago
  I suggest you read the book "Selling Sickness" and revise your take.
kelnos 10mo ago
While I'm sure there are some (many?) people faking it for accommodations or drugs, I assure you that ADHD is real. I know several people with ADHD who have struggled to find the right combination of medication to even get to a state where they can lead functional lives, which is still not what us neurotypical folks would call "normal".